Sheets of Paper
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: They are linked only by the eyes that, from far away, watch them. [Multiple a/m fandoms, for the Song Time Challenge on the AMF]
1. Little Busters, Onee-san in the Mirror

**Song**: Papermoon, by Tommy heavenly6  
**Fandom**: Little Busters

**Onee-san in the Mirror**

Your wings are getting far away from the blue  
of the ocean and the sky – still, we wonder  
what makes it: the blue below, above,  
in your soul…and you can't get away from it  
even as you go towards the waves, towards the clouds  
slowly growing cold – I'm here still, to warm that space  
you leave behind.

I'll take the world's memories of you and burn them into ash  
if you wish to disappear- but don't be mistaken. I'm not abandoning you,  
following on the surface of the water, under the shadow of the clouds…  
I'm just following you, keeping you close so that someone  
who realises the truth and understands, can find you  
and reach a hand out to you.


	2. X1999, Dreams of the Inevitable

**Song**: Oracion, by Ai Kayano  
**Fandom**: X/1999

**Dreams of the Inevitable**

He could not stop her death: that blood dripping  
into the Sakura petals that had already tasted so much:  
wine on red lips, so red they couldn't go  
any redder, and yet she kept drinking

And that girl was dead for nothing: a dream  
that would never happen; a hope,  
that would never be fulfilled

But even if he could have told her that, it wouldn't change;  
he'd tried, he'd run after her, but to no avail,  
not even to feel her still warm corpse in his hold,  
just a dream…that was slowly fading away  
with the waves…

Those waves; he'd never had the chance to go  
but what was the point? Now? He'd wanted to go with someone:  
with her, but she was no gone, and there was no-one who would cry  
with him: no-one he knew.

He had the world to himself: his dream  
but that sadness and loss was still there,  
inevitable…inescapable.


	3. Gundam Seed, Meeting on the Battlefield

**Song**: With You/With Me, by 9nine  
**Fandom**: Gundam Seed DESTINY

**Meeting on the Battlefield**

It was too hard to be confused  
in this new, unsure world, even after the war  
where they'd already fought together  
against each other, or side by side

And now they were drifting again: lost,  
far apart, clashing on the battlefield…

Why was it coming to that again? Had they  
been turned around somehow? Broken apart?  
Even though neither of them wanted to fight again  
they were fighting…each other

But both of them still looked forward to that day  
they would be side by side again:  
freedom, and justice, as they should be  
together…  
no matter the crooked road they took  
in getting there.


	4. Sailor Moon, Freestyle

**Song**: SPLASH FREE, by STYLE FIVE  
**Fandom**: Sailor Moon (original anime)

**Freestyle**

The icy prison melts off as she swims  
in the shallow waters, but still she doesn't sink  
into the deeper recedes – instead she floats  
like a fish on salt: that soft surface  
she doesn't want to rip apart and dive under –

But she does; she's just scared of what's  
down there – even though she's weighed down  
when away from the pool, when standing  
on that fine ground sand that sticks to her back  
and toes

But with a push, she can dive under  
and be free, free from the world above  
surrounded by the water which tears off the ice  
of her prison, her arms and legs free to float or sink  
in the deep.

And deeper, deeper she can dive, away from the ice  
so when she surfaces again she's too warm, too alive,  
too free to be caught again  
and she laughs, because no amount of ice in the world  
can freeze that deep water she swims in.


	5. Usagi Drop, Not Another Father

**Song**: Your Song, by Yun*chi  
**Fandom**: Usagi Drop

**Not Another Father**

The first time she saw him she saw her precious father  
and found herself following him without another world

But there was still a barrier between them:  
a lack of knowledge  
that became smaller the more they got to know each other  
and lived together  
and he had no reason to keep her

But slowly, they grew closer together  
though she learnt, as well, that he could never  
take the place of her real  
father.


	6. Clannad, Don't Leave me Alone

**Song**: Snow Fairy, by FUNKIST  
**Fandom**: Clannad After Story

**Don't Leave me Alone**

When I wake up you're still there  
in my dreams – don't go!  
The snow if falling still  
outside, and once you'd loved to play in it  
and tire out, and I'd carry you home:  
our warm home…

I'm here to carry you again  
so come with me: come on!  
We'll run down that slope together,  
that slope slippery with lonely tears  
until the snow melts  
into spring

And let's go to the spring together:  
you and me.


	7. Elfen Lied, Deny the Past

**Song**: Crossing Field, by LiSA  
**Fandom**: Elfen Lied

**Deny the Past**

Even though you know the truth now  
are you still going to keep on running?  
Lying? Pretending there's nothing wrong  
with the world – or with you?  
Are you going to lick blood behind his back  
and be pure and sweet before,  
kiss those lips with those same lips  
you've covered those red stains  
with lipstick?

You know it's cowardly of you now  
that you know; before, when you ran away,  
lost to anger's call – but what will you do  
when he finds out the truth about you?  
Run away again; pretend he can still love you  
and live to that delusion  
because that's all you've got?

The sad thing is that it _is_ all you've got  
and you need it: his warmth, his love;  
you know his hatred is the gallows striking home  
so you can't, because you're not human enough to think  
of a romantic death, or suicide:

Just an animal who needs to live.


	8. Is the Order a Rabbit, Working Up

**Song**: V.I.P, by Sid  
**Fandom**: Is the Order a Rabbit?

**Working Up**

There's no such thing as an easy life:  
everyone has to work, find their happiness.  
No-one can be rich and good: the gods  
of the world, those who get everything  
on gold platters – because even that little finger  
needs some strength to hold itself up.

There's no wrongness  
in being poor or weak, unable:  
still learning – that was the world,  
the world where they had to try and learn  
before the afterlife of their dreams.


	9. Romeo x Juliet, Forbidden Fruit

**Song**: This Beautiful Cruel World, by Yōko Hikasa  
**Fandom**: Romeo x Juliet

**Forbidden Fruit**

Those white flowers looked all the more sad  
and despondent in ash: the fair fields were far  
beyond his sight and reach, but still they were the ones  
closest to his heart.

He was a fool, he knew  
to chase after the past he could never have,  
that had died when he could barely walk  
and his father had swung the sword  
to chop off those roots –

If only those beautiful flowers didn't have a dead name  
on those lips…but they did, and he couldn't help but love  
the corpse they breathed – a live corpse, he found out  
eventually: a woman who loved them as much as he,  
who _was_ that corpse they spelt, but still alive,  
still breathing, with he

But it was still impossible for them because he  
was the son of the sword, and she  
the too long-lived carcass that needed to burn  
for their king.


	10. Darker than Black, Doll Love

**Fandom**: Darker than Black  
**Song**: Silky Heart by Reiko Nakanishi

**Sheets of Paper**  
**10. Doll Love**

She's supposed to lack the breadth  
of human emotions  
like love  
but still she can't help but see  
an illusion thereof

Or maybe it's not an illusion  
because she was a human  
once

If no more, but perhaps those feelings  
still slept within her  
to be awakened

But, of course, she's not meant  
to have those feelings at all. 


	11. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, Taboo Wish

**Song**: Nakushita Kotoba, by No Regret Life  
**Fandom**: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

**Taboo Wish**

For you I turned back time, that wish  
that broke apart the world into separate realms  
and our souls –

But I still can't take it back, because it's still  
not as bad as the mark of death  
on your back:

If only I'd grabbed your hand back then  
so you wouldn't have been caught  
like that

But I was too slow, too cowardly  
remembering, all the while, your sweet little voice  
in my head saying I couldn't touch you yet

And he took that time  
to mark your soul for death –

But why you? I didn't understand it then  
but eventually I learnt  
why our lives had been played around this way

And he was right: I was the same  
to make a wish like that.

But because you're not dead I can say  
I'm not: I'm not like that

Even if I don't have a place in the world  
anymore, to say that.


	12. Baby Steps, Cautious Driving

**Song**: Haruka Kanata, by Asian Kung-Fu Generation  
**Fandom**: Baby Steps

**Cautious Driving**

There's a time where you just have to floor ahead  
'cause there's no time to think out every space:  
you've just got to move,  
got to find an empty spot  
before your eyes  
can pick it out and be preyed upon

Because the game starts moving too fast,  
too advanced for a little beginner like you  
who can see, but not always act

And those eyes of yours may be a strength for you  
but you've still gotta toss them aside sometime  
when the battle heats up:  
take some risks,  
watch them go do down the drain perhaps  
or into a curb

But, sometimes, it's that one that lets to scream ahead  
and you've got to rush ahead and do it, don't you?  
'cause you know you'll fail if you fall behind.


	13. Angel Sanctuary, Chasing Alexiel

**Song**: Piyo-chan, by Natsuki Shinomiya  
**Fandom**: Angel Sanctuary

**Chasing Alexiel**

It was an endless cycle, but still he chased  
after her, pulling hope  
towards, as though one day he might find  
something changed, some mercy  
that will cut away that wall between them  
and give them their happy life

Because eternity was a long time  
when the soul continued to be transferred on  
and reborn, then snatched away whenever  
she got too close to happiness  
before he even got to her

But he got faster, and eventually he was able  
to hold her hand, then the sword that kills her,  
then her entire body in his arms

And somehow, after too many cycles to count,  
they're together –  
or as close as he can get to her.


	14. Fruits Basket, Looking Up

**Song**: Kiss Kiss Kiss, by Buono!  
**Fandom**: Fruits Basket

**Looking Up**

With her smile, the whole world seems  
to look up, towards the smiling sun

And maybe he's blindly falling  
'cause he thinks the little sun  
seems just a little brighter too  
and closer down

Though he'd hate for it to fall  
from that sky; it's still there, bright  
and too far for even his strait-jacket tail  
to reach,

But it's closer, he thinks, when she smiles at him  
and him alone  
and he backs away until his back's on fire  
and then runs to her again:  
to her smile, to her sweet laugh  
and even sweeter heart

And he wants to be able to love her  
but the sun comes too close, for too long,  
the monster that lurks behind  
with get him  
and her.


	15. Shion no Ou, The Best Kifu

**Song**: Pokemon Theme, by Pokemon  
**Fandom**: Shion no Ouu

**The Best Kifu**

He could afford to weaken his hand:  
those beautiful fingertips stained  
with blood and pink nail polish  
he'd had to be careful, but quick  
to get it off  
so he could play again:  
that game of shougi like a pro

But it wasn't enough, after that:  
he was waiting  
for that even greater game  
he'd set up  
on that future board drenched  
in blood…

To set up that board  
and play that game:  
that was his ultimate goal:  
the best game  
to be played

And then he'd keep on climbing  
higher and higher  
beyond the top.


	16. Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Restarting Ti

**Song**: Anniversary, by Sid  
**Fandom**: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

**Restarting Time**

If she fails again, she can just  
restart time: over and over  
until she changes her future,  
until she's won that little wish of hers  
that cost her soul

But she's a fool, she knows, because it's a trap  
too deep to escape from now, if she ever could…  
because who could escape that opportunity:  
that desire, to have any wish in the world  
fulfilled, in so desperate a time.

But was she happy? No; perhaps that was why  
she was weak – she couldn't bring herself to regret  
or lose hope…because it would all be meaningless  
if she did,  
the death of all of them

So all she can do is fail, repeat,  
and then fail again, until she can succeed  
or put a stop to all of them, and time  
without hope.


End file.
